Soul Patch

Chapter 28 Plastic Friendship

Wenjie arrived at the **Second Precinct at 3:50.

Upon entering the service hall, he subconsciously glanced at the workstation near the entrance. Zhao Xiaolong stood there, smiling as he watched people come to conduct their business.

His uniform was washed clean and ironed, making him look even more energetic.

Occasionally, someone will come up to ask, and he will patiently explain the business process to them, such as which business area and which window they should go to.

Wenjie stepped forward, waiting for someone to finish their consultation. He smiled at Zhao Xiaolong: "Judging from your accent, are you from a remote county in the eastern suburbs of M City?"

“Yes, yes, are you too?” Zhao Xiaolong echoed, turning his gaze to Wenjie.

The smile vanished the moment he saw Wenjie. He stared at Wenjie, as if remembering something, and grabbed Wenjie's collar excitedly: "It's you again! You madman, what are you doing here?"

It seems he still remembers Wenjie rushing over and pointing at his forehead to question him about the butterfly rope buckle.

With this system, Wenjie always had to distinguish between what happened virtually and what happened in reality. He also realized that real-world events could change due to a correction to an individual's life trajectory.

Zhao Xiaolong's split personality has been corrected, and the serial murders no longer exist. However, the fact that he questioned Zhao Xiaolong at the door after he logged out of the system that day will not change at all.

This troubled Wenjie greatly, because for him, the memories of testing and trying to complete tasks time and time again were no different from his memories in reality.

Memories are stored in his mind, influencing his judgment and affecting his emotions.

"Uh... I'm sorry, I mistook you for someone else that day," Wenjie could only smile apologetically, then looked intently at Zhao Xiaolong: "I'm from Yonghui Village, are you from Zhao Village?"

Zhao Xiaolong's expression softened after hearing Wenjie's explanation.

Wenjie took out his phone and checked the time; it was five minutes to four. He gave Zhao Xiaolong his phone number: "Add me on WeChat when you have time. We're from the same hometown and are in the same system now, so we can look out for each other."

Zhao Xiaolong took the note Wenjie handed him and glanced at the phone number on it: "Okay, I'll add you later."

"By the way, has Yang Shanshan from workstation 18 in Zone C returned?" Wenjie was about to leave, but then thought it best to ask.

Zhao Xiaolong was taken aback. With hundreds of people in the Second Branch Bureau, plus the throngs of people coming to handle business, it was impossible to remember who had gone out and who had come back.

But Yang Shanshan, the top beauty in the department, is always eye-catching wherever she goes. She went out? I don't remember her.

"She went out?" Zhao Xiaolong muttered. "Sorry, people are coming and going at the door. I don't remember her going out. Maybe someone was asking her a question when she went out, or maybe I was busy with something else and didn't notice... I'm sorry, why don't you go in and take a look?"

As Zhao Xiaolong spoke, he pointed towards area C inside.

Wenjie nodded his thanks to Zhao Xiaolong and sent a WeChat message to Yang Shanshan as he walked towards Area C.

"I've arrived. Are you at work?"

"Yes... but I have something to take care of. Could you wait for me in the service waiting area for a moment?"

Fifteen minutes before four o'clock, Yang Shanshan ran upstairs to the Administrative Affairs Office to find Liu Qingqing. Liu Qingqing, seeing Yang Shanshan, asked in surprise, "Isn't it busy downstairs? How come you had time to come up to find me?"

Seeing that Liu Qingqing was the only one in the office, Yang Shanshan pulled up a chair and sat down, deliberately complaining:

"Don't even mention it, this job was just assigned to me at the last minute."

"Oh? Weren't you busy compiling research data lately? How's the work report coming along?"

"It's a complete mess. The report had already covered the employment situation of recent graduates, their majors, and job positions. Now they're asking us to add the salary levels, living conditions, and commuting time costs of recent graduates to the survey as well."

Yang Shanshan rolled her eyes, stuck out her tongue, and asked Liu Qingqing for help: "Do you have any data here?"

"Then you're really unlucky," Liu Qingqing said, opening a drawer and taking out the dormitory assignment registration form, handing it to Yang Shanshan.

"I only have accommodation allocations from our system."

As Liu Qingqing spoke, she leaned closer to Yang Shanshan and whispered, "I heard from our manager that the owner of this apartment building is related to some leader of the General Administration, and they give us a significant discount on the rent."

"Oh, really!" Yang Shanshan had no interest in the gossip. She took the documents and quickly took pictures of each page with her phone.

After taking the photos, he returned the documents to Liu Qingqing: "You're really helpful. I'll treat you to a manicure later. I just got a new membership card. It's in the mall across from our bureau."

"Really? I'm getting my nails done right now. Look how long they've grown!" Liu Qingqing said, extending her fair and clean hands. Her nails had a maroon base with silver metallic decorative lines that intersected in a geometric pattern, making her hands look stylish and artistic.

Liu Qingqing was most satisfied with her hands; they were smooth, fair, full, and elastic, in no way inferior to those of the hand models on TV.

She cherishes her hands very much, and she does hand masks more often than face masks.

Yang Shanshan touched Liu Qingqing's soft, boneless hands; the smooth, silky touch felt incredibly good.

“I happen to be free tonight, how about you?” Liu Qingqing asked.

Wenjie's WeChat message came at that moment. Yang Shanshan replied with a shy smile like a young girl: "I...I have a date with my boyfriend tonight. I'm so sorry, let's reschedule for another day."

These words truly surprised Liu Qingqing; this was big news! Her gossipy nature was piqued, and she leaned over and gave Yang Shanshan a nudge: "Boyfriend! You're amazing, you kept it so well a secret..."

It suddenly realized something, and whispered in Yang Shanshan's ear, "Could it be a leader from our bureau who's not in a position to reveal it?"

"Go to hell..." Yang Shanshan thought of those fat, bloated leaders in the bureau, each with their own families. She glared at Liu Qingqing fiercely.

A woman's words can be sharp, but her mind is even sharper. Just look at those seemingly harmonious and friendly female colleagues; how they secretly plot against her.

Yang Shanshan glanced at the time; it was 4:30. Wenjie had been waiting for half an hour.

"I'm busy downstairs, I'll go down now. Um... about the documents, thanks!" Yang Shanshan turned and left the office, slamming the door shut behind her.

Returning to the service hall, the once bustling hall had become empty within half an hour.

Yang Shanshan spotted Wenjie sitting in the service waiting area at a glance.

Even a glimpse of him from afar would fill Yang Shanshan with a sense of warmth and security.

Yang Shanshan's high heels clicked rhythmically on the tiled floor of the business hall.

Wenjie looked up and saw a familiar, beautiful figure.

Yang Shanshan always wears a one-piece uniform skirt and a well-tailored uniform shirt when she is working.

Wenjie suspected that Yang Shanshan's uniform was custom-made, perfectly fitting her body proportions. Other people's uniforms were either too big and loose, or too small and tight.

Yang Shanshan approached gracefully, her delicate face radiant with lively eyes and a spirited demeanor: "I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting."

After speaking, Yang Shanshan lowered her head apologetically, staring at the stack of documents in her hand.

"It's nothing, it's nothing, I just arrived too. I didn't have anything planned for this afternoon!" Wenjie smiled faintly.

Yang Shanshan's apologetic expression just now reminded him of yesterday noon, when the warm sun shone and the house was filled with the rich aroma of pork rib soup...

Yang Shanshan gave him a warm hug.

Men, men... they are only ever impressed by physical contact.

(End of this chapter)